CARTER COUNTY, Tenn. — Carter County commissioners are looking for ways to fund a pay raise for deputies as the jail faces potential decertification next month for low staffing.
Next week commissioners will vote on a $5 per hour pay raise for sheriff’s deputies. The budget committee recommendation comes as Tennessee makes a decision in December about whether to decertify the jail for understaffing.
“It really comes down to a moral issue and a business acumen,” commissioner Cody McQueen said. “Morally, it’s the right thing to do to take care of our employees, and to them, I would say thank you.”
That business case according to McQueen is that while raises would cost $1.5 million per year, losing state inmates would cost taxpayers $2 million. Even so, the raise equates to an additional 16 cents on the property tax rate.
“We’re all working very, very hard to find additional streams of revenue, tighten our belt, potential cuts,” McQueen said.
“If we get this accomplished, I think long term it could be a big game changer for Carter County,” Sheriff Mike Fraley said.
Fraley said Carter County offers the lowest pay in the region. He’s using retired officers in place of certified school resource officers at several schools.
A similar pay increase was requested by former sheriff Dexter Lunceford but rejected by commissioners. That’s changed now.
“We’re all on a team effort,” McQueen said. “We’re all working together. This is not the combativeness maybe our county has been known...
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